What This Is




When I lived in Hong Kong I started blogging. I used Yahoo 360, which no longer exists. Fortunately I saved all my blog posts to my computer. So, I've finally recreating my blog. No pictures, just writing, but lots of it, from our three years living in Asia. Lots of interesting stories (at least to me!)...if you want to find out what we're doing now, check out my current blog. If you want to read about life in Hong Kong from 2006-2009 start reading below!


Monday, August 1, 2011

Tuesday August 19 2008 Equestrian Olympics Day 4


On Monday night, August 18th I went to the Team Jumping Finals at the Equestrian Olympics. Lee was in China and it was too late to ask someone else, so I went by myself.

The finals were SO amazing. Those jumps are so huge and the course so demanding I just cringed and held my breath as the riders went around the course. There were huge oxers, a water jump, combination jumps with an odd series of strides in-between, and bending lines that made the horses and riders really pay attention and struggle to get ready for the next jump. The most amazing thing about the evening was – the American Team won the gold medal, beating the Canadians in a jump-off. I’ve never seen a jump-off before and wasn’t sure how they really worked, but now I understand. If you have two riders (or two teams in this case) with the same number of total faults at the end of a competition, then the riders that are tied jump one more course, with time used as a tie-breaker. The riders jump as fast as they can jump without getting a fault. The Canadians were missing a team member which put them at a disadvantage, but the Americans had 3 clear rounds and that was all she wrote.

Then last night (August 21st) Lee and I went to the individual jumping finals. The jumps were even bigger and wider for this event. The announcers on the radio said that there were very few horses in the world that can jump clear at this level, and I believe it. I find myself saying that the horses are the athletes, but the riders are too. You’ve got to have that special horse, but if the rider isn’t smart and good and able to ride correctly at this level then it doesn’t matter, so it really is a team effort.

In front of us were a family all decked out in red and white, rooting for the Swiss. I started talking to the mom and it turns out they’ve lived in Hong Kong for 15 years and the two little girls were born here. One little girl goes to the Japanese International School and the other goes to the French School. Those little girls were a picture of two kids “at home in the world”. I told them what the announcers were saying and they shared their pen with me so that I could keep score. The two little girls take riding lessons and are just horse-crazy. I know how they feel. I just love those horses…

At the end two riders, one from the Netherlands and one from Canada, were tied with two clear (no penalty) rounds, and 7 riders, including two from the US, were tied with only 4 faults. So, there was a jump-off for gold, silver AND bronze.

The first jump-off, for bronze, was great. The first American rider tried a neat trick, and jumped one of the flower beds as an extra jump to shorten the line and get a faster time. He had an amazing round, but knocked a rail down at the very last jump. The rest of the riders liked his idea so much that they all jumped the flower bed too.  It really looked like a German rider was going to win it, but then the second American rider, Beezie Madden, just went around that course like lightening. It looked like she was barrel-racing around some of the corners. The fact that she was also jumping 6 foot jumps and 5 foot wide oxers at the same time was just mind-blowing. She won the bronze medal for the Americans. Then the riders from the Netherlands and Canada went. The rider from the Netherlands got a fault, so all the Canadian had to do was ride a careful round and they got the gold.

The Canadians were SO HAPPY! Canada doesn’t win gold medals every day. I congratulated the people next to me, who were delirious with joy and waving their maple-leaf flags like mad. I like the Canadian national anthem too – its very majestic.

Last night I was so proud of my adopted city. The announcers said that there were a lot of misgivings initially about whether Hong Kong could pull it off, with the weather, the pollution, etc. But they did a great, great job. The weather cooperated too. Typhoon Nuri started approaching Hong Kong last night but waited until this morning to really start blowing. We went from a signal 8 this morning to a signal 9 at 2 pm, today. We’re all stuck at home, nervously watching the rain and the wind. This is supposed to be almost a direct hit, but I think we’re pretty sheltered on this side of the Peak.

We must be experiencing the eye of the typhoon right now because things have gotten very calm. I’m not sure what to expect when the other side of the typhoon reaches us.




No comments:

Post a Comment